MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Twelfth Night Cake
Categories: Cakes
Yield: 1 Cake

8 c All-purpose flour; sifted
6 Eggs
1 c Granulated sugar
2 c Butter or shortening
2 c Whole milk; scalded then
-cooled to lukewarm
1/2 oz Yeast (4 1/2 ts)
2 ts Salt
2 Cloves; up to 3
1 ds Cinnamon
1 ds Ginger
Sweetmeats; to your liking
-(candied lemon peel, orange
-peel, and citron)
Candies or frosting; to
-decorate!

Twelfth Night is a Christian holiday typically celebrated on January
5 or 6, concluding the 12 days of Christmas and celebrating the visit
of the Magi (the three kings). Twelfth Night is also, of course, the
name of a Shakespeare play, although whether he wrote it to be
performed during holiday festivities is up for debate. As Shakespeare
scholar Michael Dobson puts it:

> It is quite possible that Shakespeare himself called this play only
> by what subsequently became its subtitle, What You Will, perhaps >
thereby signalling its status as a contrasting companion piece to >
his previous comedy As You Like It. But it isn't inappropriate that >
this play should be associated with a day which in Shakespeare's >
time came as the climax of the festive season, the occasion for >
music, elaborate fancy-dress masked balls, and parties during which >
whoever found the bean baked into a special cake would be declared >
'Lord of Misrule' for the night.

Have ready a greased parchment paper or baking pan. In a bowl,
combine 2 cups flour with the salt; set aside. Next, sift 6 cups of
flour into a large mixing bowl. Dissolve a half-ounce of yeast in a
little warm water. Make a hole in the center of the flour. Pour in
the yeast. Knead and mix the flour with one hand, while adding the 2
cups of milk with the other. In yet another mixing bowl, beat eggs
with butter, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, sweetmeats, and sugar until
light. Add to dough, kneading lightly with your hands, and adding
more eggs if the dough is a little stiff. Let the dough rise until
doubled in bulk, then add the reserved flour and salt. Knead the
dough by turning it over on itself three times and set to rise again,
covered with a cloth for about an hour. Take it up and work again
lightly, and then form into a ring.

This is a large amount of dough, so it may be divided and baked in
two or more cakes. Pat gently and flatten a little. Set the ring in
the middle. Cover the pan with a clean cloth, and set the cake to
rise for an hour longer. When well risen, glaze the loaves lightly
with a beaten egg. Place in 325°F oven; let bake for 1 to 1-1/2
hours, or less if making smaller loaves. Decorate with colored icings
and decorator candies, as desired.

Don't forget to hide the beans inside!

Recipe FROM: <https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/
recipe-twelfth-night-cake/>

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